Technical Abstract:
It was discovered by Olofsson and Vásquez (2008) that a novel lactic acid bacteria (LAB) microbiota with numerous LAB, comprising the genera Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, live in a symbiotic relationship with honeybees (Apis mellifera) in their honey stomach. Previous results from 16S rRNA gene sequencing of the honey stomach LAB from the Buckfast bees were included, but not the sequences of the American samples from the same study Vásquez et al. (2009a, b) since they were nearly identical. Additionally, the American bees were not regarded as endemic A. mellifera subspecies. The results revealed that all studied honeybee subspecies of A. mellifera probably share the same Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium phylotypes. Presently, 13 phylotypes have been identified from the most extensively studied A. mellifera, the Buckfast bee .